1. Field
The present disclosure relates to nanoparticles including hydrophobic active ingredients and polypeptides, methods of preparing the nanoparticles, and use of the nanoparticles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydrophobic drugs may be delivered by various methods, for example, using emulsionss, co-solvents, or micelles. In the case of liposomes, hydrophobic drugs may be encapsulated within a lipid bilayer, and may affect properties of the lipid bilayer, such as stability or stimulus-sensitivity. In addition, the hydrophobic drugs may not be efficiently released due to strong coherence between the hydrophobic drugs and the lipid bilayer.
Meanwhile, there has been research on albumin as a carrier for hydrophobic drugs since albumin has a hydrophobic pocket that may strongly bind to hydrophobic drugs. However, since it may be difficult to target diseased tissues when albumin is used as a drug carrier, there may be side-effects on normal tissues.
Therefore, a nanoparticle including a hydrophobic drug and albumin may be prepared, wherein albumin is used as a drug carrier. However, when a hydrophobic drug is mixed with various types of chemical additives and milled to be formulated as a nanoparticle, problems may result. For example, the nanoparticle may be toxic due to the use of chemical additives, the nanoparticle preparation method may be complicated, or the nanoparticle may not have stimulus sensitivity. Similarly, when a nanoparticle including a hydrophobic drug and albumin are prepared by using a high-pressure homogenizer under high shear conditions, the nanoparticle preparation method may be complicated and the nanoparticle may not have temperature sensitivity.
Therefore, there is a demand for simple methods of preparing a nanoparticle including a hydrophobic drug and albumin, and methods of controlling the nanoparticle to release the hydrophobic drug at a target site in the body of a subject.